Subject 31
by DeExil
Summary: I constantly remind myself, that is not my memory, that is not part of me. Yet every time I see them, I doubt myself, every time I hear them, I wonder...just who was I?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: I constantly remind myself, that is not my memory, that is not part of me. Yet every time I see them, I doubt myself, every time I hear them, I wonder...just who was I?**

**Pairing: Naruto x Mei Terumi**

**Author: DeExil**

**Subject #31 – Chapter 1: Rebirth**

"He seems to be responding well to the dosage…" a man stated as two more appeared near him and looked down at a figure, studying it carefully.

"…most interesting…" another one said as he took a clipboard in his hand and started flipping the pages, reading whatever was written on them.

The figure on the table watched tiredly wondering what was going on. He tried to turn his head and look around but he realized that it was impossible; it was like his head was secured by something. From what he could see he deducted he was in some kind of hospital, or at least that is what he believed.

The dim light above him however made him wonder if this was not a morgue, but that would be impossible, he wasn't dead. He knew that, he was breathing, he was thinking. His gaze moved to the strange men around him, they looked like doctors, or scientists? He didn't know anymore, his head hurt when he thought about something, when he tried to think about anything.

He didn't know how he got here or how long he had been here, in fact, he didn't remember anything apart from his name. Looking around he spotted some kind of syringe in the man's hand, it was full of black liquid. His eyes slightly widened as he realized that the man was going to inject that into his body. He tried to retaliate, but to no avail, he felt the sting and then a burning sensation he was all too familiar with.

He screamed and trashed, his eyes became unfocused as he felt his bones shattering and then reforming. He roared to the heavens, in his mind, pleading whatever deity would hear his screams would actually put an end to his misery. But no matter how much he screamed, how much he struggled, the end he desired did not come.

All he could do was endure the pain as memories flashed in front of his eyes, like his mind was trying to make him remember something important yet at the same time forgetting what it was supposed to show him. He screamed as he felt his head burning, a pain that he had never felt in years – or more precisely, ever in his life – traversed through his body.

"His heartbeat is off the charts!" one of the men shouted frantically as they all started treating the man on the table, trying to sustain him, to keep him alive.

He hated that, why wouldn't they just let him go? Why were they keeping him and torturing him? Did he do something in the past? Did he anger someone to deserver such cruel punishment? Questions such as those flooded his mind, yet none of them were answered, he did not know how to answer them and even if he tried to scream them, to ask them, they would most likely not answer him.

"Dose him again." One of the men suddenly said making the man's eyes widen in fright. He saw the syringe, the same black substance inside of it again. He shook violently as he tried to break free from his bindings.

Again, he felt the sting, he opened his mouth to scream yet no sound was heard. The ceiling above him started to vanish, he slowly closed his mind as he felt his entire body go numb, his mind going blank. His eyes slowly closed as his body fell limp on the table once more. The men around him nodded in satisfaction, he was stabilized.

* * *

_Blood red eyes watched as the pipes before him turned from blue to black in a matter of seconds, the creature grunted as it took a step back not liking what was happening. It studied it surroundings as it tried to figure out a way to either stop the changes that were happening around it or try and break free._

_It looked in front of it, a boy was sitting in a pool, his face was blank, his eyes were hollow, it was like he was dead. The boy had been broken by whatever the freak was doing on the outside, his mind was confused now, it was trying to figure out what was going on, it was trying to remember important aspects to keep him functional._

_It was strange to say at least, even his spirit seemed to have given up, it was no longer present, or if it was it was slowly drifting away into the cold embrace of the death god himself. The creature smirked, maybe, just maybe that would prove a good opening for him, he use that to his advantage. _

_But the main problem still remained, what to do about the gates that kept him secure? What to do about that damn seal that made it impossible for him to take any actions that he so desired. Without the boy to call out on his power he could not directly influence his body and chakra more then healing any outside damage._

_It frowned as it slumped down on the ground, it thought of many things, the most important thought was however how to escape, it could care less what happened to the boy, its freedom was more important then anything else. _

_As one of the walls crumbled and water leaked into the room, starting to flood it, the creature began to ponder if it will also die if the boy died. It saw the water swallowing the boy and sighed, with one of its tails it dug in the water and pulled the shell out of the water. Luckily, he was still breathing, though it seemed like he took no notice of the fact that he was going to die any second now._

_It would have been bad if the boy died now, it still didn't know how to escape. It had to bypass the seal, then it had to bypass the fail-safe system. It growled in annoyance, this was not what it expected. It was so much easier if it could manipulate the boy to take down the seal._

_The creature looked at the pipes one more time and it smirked, a thought passed through its mind. It was risky but worth it. Without a second thought the creature wrapped its remaining tails around the pipes and channeled its power through them, mixing the dark substance that was flowing through the pipes with his own. _

_For a second, it could feel it, it could almost taste freedom. The seal was vanishing, the bars were disappearing. It stood up and triumphally roared shaking the room as it poured more of its energy in the pipes, it watched with a grin as the pipes absorbed its infinite power, the bars were gone, the seal fell to the ground and got washed away by the water. _

_There was a flash of light, the fail-safe had activated yet as soon as it did the creature dropped the boy in the water and wrapped its tail around the light laughing manically. It prevented whatever was trying to come out from appearing. The creature gripped on the figure and crushed it with its tail, the light vanishing._

"_**Freedom! I'm free! Finally, I'm free!" **__it shouted in glee as it turned towards the pipes and its eyes widened in horror. __**"Impossible."**__ It mumbled as it saw the black substance not only reappearing but wrapping around its tails and moving towards its body._

"_**No! This cannot be!" **__the creature shouted as it tried to detach its tails from the pipes, yet the strange substance stopped it from doing that. It struggled, trying to pry itself free from the strong grasp that the substance had on it. _

_Its eyes widened even further as it felt its power being drained, absorbed…mutated. It howled in rage, to think that the strongest of the nine would be defeated by a mere poison, to think that it would be defeated by a mere human. It growled as it resorted to the next best thing, survival was key and it had to survive. The beast turned around and started biting off its own tails, trying to rip them. _

_It roared in pain as it tried to break itself free, but no matter how hard it tried, it proved futile. As it realized that it stopped all its struggled and watched as the black substance covered its tails, then moved to the rest of its body. The creature looked down at the spot where the boy should be and wondered what would happen now. It was not ready to die, it never thought that it would die like this. _

_The creature glared, it would not die, not today and not like this! There was no way that it would be defeated by weaklings such as humans. No one could defeat it and no one would ever be able to kill it. _

_In its rage the creature failed to realize that the more it struggled and the more power it poured into the pipes the faster it was going to die. Before it realized, it was already too late, the substance had devoured it, it had consumed the creature turning its power into its own. _

_With a howl the creature vanished, absorbed by a mere parasite. Its howl echoed in the boy's mindscape, a howl that the boy would forever remember. The great demon fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune had been defeated, killed by a parasite and only its jailor would – vaguely – remember how it happened. _

* * *

"I see Subject #31 has reacted pleasantly to my mutagen." A man said with a creepy voice, somewhat reminding the person on the table of a snake. He shuddered for a second as he thought he felt the man's gaze upon him, something told him that this man was not one he should anger.

"Yes my lord…" one of the scientists – doctors? – answered in a humble tone, the figure could not see the interaction between the two; he was still strapped to the table. It felt like he had been there for months, maybe years. He was tired, he was hungry and everything hurt, his entire body hurt like hell.

"Most fascinating…" he heard the first one comment as he flipped through some papers, or at least that is what he deduced from the sounds echoing in the room – or chamber?

"We were a bit surprised he survived." The scientist said as he walked up next to the table, he could now see the scientist looking down at him. A man in his late thirties it seemed, with brown hair. "Kabuto was about throw him in the pit."

"Yes, he told me…" the man said as he also appeared near the table, in the figures range of sight. A pale man with green slitted eyes, a strange aura present around him that made him shake in fear. The man seemed powerful, clearly someone he should not piss. "Does he remember anything?" he asked as the scientist studied the person on the table for a few minutes.

"Honestly, we don't know." He answered as the pale man turned towards the person on the table.

"What is your name?" he asked as the figure stood silently and watched the pale man. He thought about the question, who was he? The only thing that could pass his name was…

"…Naruto…" he replied weakly as the pale man seemed slightly displeased with the answer and the scientist began to scribble on the clipboard.

"And who do you work for?" he asked as the blond thought about the question, nothing came to mind.

"I don't know…" the answered seemed to please the pale man as his features lightened up a bit.

"What are you?" he asked as the boy once more thought in silence, he thought for some time making the two men look at each other quizzically wondering what the boy was thinking.

"Human." The boy replied as a grin appeared on the pale man's face.

"And what do you remember?" he asked as the boy immediately replied.

"I…I don't remember…it hurts when I think…" he replied closing his eyes and gritting his teeth in pain, his head hurt once more, he didn't understand why his head was hurting when he was thinking about an answer. "…all I know is … my name …" he replied as the pale man started laughing.

"_This is perfect_!" he shouted in his mind as his eyes started glowing, the boy could not understand what was going on, but it seemed like the pale man was very pleased with the answer he received. Most strange, even the pain in his head receded slightly; the man looked down at the boy with a smirk.

"Naruto…you are one of my loyal soldiers." He said making the boy look at the man quizzically before nodding, He wasn't sure if he should trust the pale man, but it seemed like the only option he had and it also seemed, or so he thought, that the pale man knew more about him.

"You were injured in one of your missions and we had to patch you up, the medicine we gave you…seemed to have had some drawbacks however…" he said with a grin as the blond understood little by little.

"So…I don't remember because of the medicine?" he asked as the pale man nodded.

"You've always been here my boy…" the pale man stated as the boy's eyes widened slightly "…you were raised by me, my son…" he said with a weak smile as the blond's breath stopped in his throat at the revelation.

"Will you help me one more time my boy?" he asked as the boy looked at the pale man in the eyes trying to find answers, yet all he could see was what the pale man wanted him to see. Slowly he nodded as the man grinned.

"I will … help you … father." He answered awkwardly as the pale man grinned and unstrapped the boy. Things were going the way he planned, far from that, they were going better then he had hoped for. Not only did he have the Sharingan now but he had the ultimate weapon, the Kyuubi's host.

* * *

Naruto walked down the dim lit hallway, following the pale man who had identified himself as Orochimaru, the Otokage and his ... father. The blond was quizzical about that, he couldn't place it but the word didn't sound right, it wasn't that he doubted the man's words but, there was a certain lack of proof.

He looked up at the man, warily, the power radiating from him sent a shiver down his spine. There was one thing he was certain about, he didn't want to get on this man's bad side, father or not.

As they kept walking the blond realized that the hallways became more and more lighted; now he could see around him a little better. He was rather unimpressed with the place, all tunnels with a few doors here and there leading to a room or whatever they were leading to. It wasn't interesting to say at least, he hoped that they wouldn't stay under the ground all the time.

They finally came to a halt as they entered a large room; it looked like it was used for training purposes. Training dummies on the left side, weapon racks on the right side and the middle, filled with holes and discarded weapons. Surely someone had been training here intensively.

"Orochimaru…" someone said in a stoic voice as both the man in question and the blond turned around. The one that called the pale man's name widened his eyes as he stared at the blond, the boy in question stared emotionlessly at the strange eyes with three tomoe.

"The fuck?" asked the same person as he took a step back, his face turning from shock to anger as his hand started glowing and his whole body was encompassed in some strange purple tendrils.

"Now, now Sasuke-kun…" Orochimaru started with a grin "…you wouldn't kill one of my subordinates, now would you?" he asked as the boy suddenly stopped and looked at the pale man with a questioning gaze.

"What does that mean?" he asked, but instead of Orochimaru answering, it was the blond himself that did.

Naruto bowed slightly to the boy in front of him, which shocked him – though he did no show it. "My name is Naruto…" he said as he paused, as if thinking what his full name was, however, after a second of thinking the blond continued his introduction. "…I am a loyal subject of Lord Orochimaru, I've been downed in battle by Konoha nin's and just recently recovered." He stated as the raven haired boy took a step back in shock and turned towards the pale man with a shocked face.

The man grinned even further as he said. "Naruto here is on our side, you have nothing to worry Sasuke-kun…" he said with a dark chuckle "…we will discuss this later, for now, go and talk with Kabuto."

The boy looked towards the blond one more time before the strange tendrils disappeared for good. He scoffed and turned around, leaving the room. Naruto raise an eyebrow at the boy's attitude and wondered where he had seen him before. That name, Sasuke, it rang a bell in his head. Did he meet him before?

He shook his head as the headache reappeared, he would ponder on it another time, right now he wanted to know what he was going to do here. Why he had been brought here to begin with.

"Now Naruto, for the course of the next few … months …" the pale man said while thinking "I will train you, re-train you…" he said as if the blond had forgotten how to fight, in truth, he wasn't sure if he knew how to fight.

"Was I … an able fighter?" he asked as Orochimaru grinned.

"The best of the best boy." He said with a smirk as the blond tilted his head to the side quizzically.

"I do not…remember…" he said as Orochimaru assumed that the blond didn't remember how to fight.

"Do you know what chakra is?" the sannin asked as the blond stood in silence for several minutes, thinking over the question. He finally nodded making the sannin smirk; this might not be as hard as he thought. "Try harnessing it, walk up on the ceiling." He ordered as the blond nodded and turned around.

Naruto walked to a nearby wall and placed his right foot on it, he stood there for a few seconds before he started climbing and then walking on the ceiling. Orochimaru was most pleased with this, and judging by how the blond was walking on the ceiling it was clear that he knew how to harness his chakra to a … optimum efficiency. He would only have to perfect it a little.

The blond seeing as the man was satisfied with his performance stopped channeling chakra and dropped down on the ground. He looked at the pale waiting to see what else he had to say.

"You impress me Naruto." Orochimaru said as the blond bowed slightly to show his respect for the man's words "Now, for the next few months, like I said, I will train you. Until then you are not allowed to leave this place." He said sternly as the blond nodded and bowed.

"Is this where we will train?" he asked as the man nodded.

"I will let you do what you desire here, your room is just down the hall." He said as he walked out of the training room and closed the door behind him.

The blond was now alone, he looked around wondering what to do. He could start training, or he could sit and meditate.

* * *

Orochimaru monitored the boy as he trained in the room through one of his cameras. He was very pleased, things have developed far better then he would have ever expected. He looked over the documents the scientists had given him and slightly frowned, apparently they couldn't trace anything related to the demon fox inside the blond anymore. It was like he ceased to exist. There was no trace of its chakra or presence, even the seal had vanished.

The man was sure the seal was no longer present, he himself verified that piece of information. He then looked at the information on the mutagen that was injected in the blond, code-name BLACKLIGHT, it was a virus that Orochimaru had discovered in some old ruins, it was the only thing he could salvage from the ruins, everything else had been destroyed.

There was very little information the virus, the few fragments that were left on the paper and that were readable said that the mutagen was supposed to create super-soldiers, obedient ones. They were right on the obedient part, but he had yet to see any reasons why Naruto would be a super-soldier.

"_What the…"_ he heard the blond as he looked through the camera, his eyes widened at what he saw. The blond was staring at the wall in front of him, the wall he had been punching for the last several minutes, for what reason the man didn't know but it didn't matter right now. The wall itself was completely shattered; a large hole was present in the wall now.

Now that wasn't who know what, considering Naruto was a ninja to begin with, but the walls…they were made to withstand at least ten explosive tags and the blond managed to punch a hole through it with just his fists. The blond looked at his hands, they were not bleeding, he could feel no pain. He then looked at the wall; with just one punch he destroyed it.

Orochimaru grinned, so the mutagen was showing its effects, super strength was one of the benefits. If he trained the blond right he could go against Tsunade with no problem at all, he grinned, oh the possibilities! He could turn the blond into a powerful weapon that would obey him no matter what.

He laughed, his laughter echoing throughout the entire hideout, the ninja world was in for a nasty surprise.

His gaze then turned to another monitor; he watched as Sasuke trained with Kabuto and grinned. Looking back at the blond who started his training again he began to think, Sasuke was going to be his new body in three years, that was sure, but the power that the blond possessed now, it was too much to pass it up.

He would use him for his own needs and then he would take the power for himself. He never thought that one of his experiments would one day become this useful, not even that Mokuton brat would be able to withstand Subject #31, aka Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

**A/N: Introduction chapter, can't think of anything else to add here. It might be short, unlike the strange course of action I took with other stories (9-10k words each chapter), but I want to experiment with this…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Subject #31 – Chapter 2: Consumption **

"_And tell me…what exactly happened?" a man wearing white robes and a white hat with fire designs on it asked. _

"_Like I said, the virus Orochimaru found was almost perfect, stripping me of my memories, making it so that the person I see before me is my master…" another one answered, he was wearing a black robe with a straw hat on his head. The robe had no designs. _

"_But it wasn't perfect…was it?" the first one asked as the second merely nodded._

"_And he knew that, he tried for three years to correct that, to make me understand that my place is with him, that my place is as a loyal subject of Sound…of Orochimaru…" the man said "But he miscalculated the Uchiha…he was but a trigger, but a trigger that set me on the right way."_

"_Do you regret what happened on that day?" the man asked once more and the second stood in silence for several seconds, finally he sighed as he looked up at the sky._

"_I don't know for sure…part of me is glad that it happened, because I was able to escape after that…part of me is sad, because I had killed so many…especially those that used to be close to me…" he replied while looking back at the man in front of him._

"_I see…that is different from what I expected you to say…" the man told the ninja with the straw hat. _

"…_three years…I stood and waited for three years…while I cannot say that I suffered, I can say that I became curious…who was I? What have I done? Why did he hate me? Why did he want to kill me? I learned later the answer to all those questions."_

_

* * *

_

Three years had passed since he _joined_ Orochimaru, since he started serving him _once more_. The teen wasn't sure anymore, the requests the man had most of the time were downright sadistic, though he felt no regret when he killed the people he was supposed to he could always feel a small pang in his hearth, like it was trying to tell him that he wasn't doing the right thing…he ignored it most of the times.

Then there was the issue with that Uchiha boy, each passing day it seemed like he hated his guts more and more and he didn't know why. There were moments when they fought to the death, of course, the killing blow being stopped by Orochimaru all the time. It seemed like he was always watching them, but at the same time he let them fight without being afraid of the consequences.

It seemed like the Uchiha wanted something from him, did he desire his power? Or did he desire something else? Every time they fought he screamed that he would get the final stage of the Sharingan if he would just die, but, Naruto just didn't understand what his death would actually give the Uchiha. For one, he wasn't just going to let some brat take his life, second, no matter how much Orochimaru protected the Uchiha, he would kill him, even if it meant that the sannin would kill him in return.

Even on missions, the Uchiha tried to sabotage him from time to time, to make him die while they were fighting and make it look like it was a accident, that the blond got in the way of the attack. There was that one time when they had to kill a girl from a rather prestigious family that wasn't supporting Orochimaru and was hiring ninja's to take him out. A bad move for them, and stupid as well, but that's not the point. The point was that instead of downright killing the target, the Uchiha captured her and held her captive for three days.

And what did he do in those three days? He taunted the blond, it seemed like Sasuke wanted the blond to save her, to try and save her. He could still remember his words, every time he remembered his words guilt washed over him and at the same time his head hurt more then usually.

"_So? Why don't you come and save her dobe? HUH? Just like Haku!" _those words, he didn't understand where they had met before, who that Haku was and why he would save the person they were supposed to kill.

He was born as a soldier for Orochimaru, but the times he fought with Sasuke, it made him wonder if he really was that man's soldier. When he tried to study about the medicine used to heal the injuries of that man's soldiers, his right hand, Kabuto would always stop him. Saying that he was a fighter and not a medic, that he should not bother with things medics are supposed to be bothered with.

Every time he tried to find out more about his past Orochimaru would suddenly appear and stop him, with just a few words he would make his head hurt, he would make it like his head was about to explode at any given minute. And just when he would leave, the pain would recede. It was frightening, but at the same time it made the blond wonder more, it made him think and in missions it made him hesitate.

The sannin realized what was happening, or so the blond thought, because after a training session with Orochimaru he fell unconscious and woke up only a month later, though he did discover after that, while training alone, that he had _unlocked_ – for the lack of better words – a new ability. He could change his hands into a claw like hand. Instead of five fingers, he would have three fingered talon-like appendages and one thumbed one.

When on a mission he was able to test his claws, he was surprised that they can cut through skin and bones like a knife would cut through butter. The rush of power he felt when using them was incredible, he was agiler, faster and harder to hit by jutsu's or any other kind of attack.

But, he didn't want Orochimaru to know about that power, he was afraid. He had seen people vanishing from the underground lair, fellow ninja's – if he could call them that. He heard the rumors; that Orochimaru experimented on people; he didn't want to get strapped to a table again and experimented.

Somehow, he knew that he hasn't always been in this underground lair as the man suggested, he somehow knew that the majority of the things that Orochimaru told him were lies.

And because of that, he felt a strange urge since he unlocked his claws, whenever near Orochimaru. His body, it wanted him to devour the man, he felt a tug, he felt hunger. The blond couldn't place it, the feeling was incredibly strange. Because of that he tried to avoid Orochimaru most of the time, or stay at large distances. It seemed to keep the hunger at bay, enough for him to keep himself in control.

Even for training, the man seemed to keep the blond from unlocking his true potential, while it's true that Orochimaru made sure that he had perfect chakra control, he didn't train him much after that. The blond had to learn by himself most of the time; it was like Orochimaru feared that if he got to powerful, he would do something drastic. But that seemed improbable for the blond; there was no way that he could become much more powerful than the sannin.

* * *

"Naruto." Orochimaru said to the blond who was sitting in his bed, looking up at the ceiling like he was lost in his thoughts.

The blond turned his head slightly towards the sannin and sat up, he bowed his head and looked at the man in the eyes. The blond rarely talked nowadays, he barely talked before, but now he seemed to think more and more. Orochimaru didn't like this, not one bit, if the blond started thinking he might begin to realize just who he really is.

But no matter what he did, tests, experiments, memory erasing, the blond would still show signs of remembering something, or trying to do so. He would be tempted to inject the blond with the mutagen once more…however, he had no more. Any attempts to reproduce the mutagen had failed, it was frustrating, but there was nothing the pale man could do.

The man hoped that he could suppress the memories if he made the blond kill the things that triggered them in the first place. He smirked a little, it worked on past subjects, it should work on the blond.

"I have a mission for you…" the man said as Naruto raised an eyebrow, it's been a month since his last mission, usually Orochimaru gave him a new mission each week. He was starting to wonder when he would get another one.

"What must I do?" he asked with a monotone voice.

"Its simple, Konoha nin's are trespassing on our borders, kill them." He ordered as Naruto nodded and stood up. He walked to his drawer and took out his equipment and left the room, leaving the sannin alone.

As the blond left through the door Orochimaru let a smirk appear on his face, if this proves successful he would kill two birds with one stone. He would send a clear message to Konoha that they will soon meet their end and he would suppress the blond's memories.

* * *

The blond stood watching the two statues and the waterfall at the Valley of the End. He looked around cautiously; this is where the Konoha ninja were last seen a few hours ago. It seemed like they realized they were spotted and crossed the border back into Fire Country. It puzzled the blond a little as to why they would do such a thing, weren't Konoha the strongest ninja village? Why would they pull out of a fight?

It didn't matter however, he had a task to complete. He stretched his body as he jumped down from the branch he was standing on moments ago. The ground fell under the teen's pressure, leaving a small crater. Once more his eyes scanned the area around him, there was nothing out of place, or at least, there was nothing that his eyes could spot.

He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them, they were now glowing red. Naruto scanned the area around him until his eyes rested on five figures in the distance; they were walking towards the valley and would reach it any minute.

Naruto closed his eyes once more and then opened them again; they turned back to their original color. He looked around trying to find a good ambush spot, he grinned as he jumped away from his spot.

Down the road a group of Konoha ninja's were making their way out of enemy territory. Their leader sighed in annoyance; they made one wrong move and immediately gave away their position to the enemy. Who would have thought that Orochimaru had so many "eyes" in his country? It was scary to say at least.

"This is why I told you to stop eating!" a blond girl growled out to her teammate as he kept munching on the potato chips.

"It's not my fault." He countered while still eating "You were the one that screamed when you saw that spider!" he retorted as the third party member scowled and muttered a _'troublesome'_

"Will you both be quiet?" hissed the fourth party member, a girl with pink hair. She glared at the annoyances who promptly shut their mouths, the last thing they needed was to fight against her super strength.

The jounin sighed at their bickering. As they arrived at the valley he stopped for a moment to gaze at the two statues, looking down at the bottom of the statues he could see the damage that had been inflicted more then three years ago, when Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke fought.

They both had disappeared on that day, while Jiraiya found out that Sasuke was indeed with Orochimaru, he didn't learn anything about Naruto. Their mission, after two years of no news regarding the blond, was to scout Sound. A rumor had been spreading from merchants that the Hero of Wave was sighted in Sound; they later realized that the people of Wave referred to the blond as their hero.

Asuma sighed as he walked away; he stopped for a second as he felt a presence near him. He looked around with narrowed eyes, there was nothing; maybe his senses were playing tricks on him. He shook his head as he started walking away.

Seconds later the jounin spun around and blocked a kunai with one of his trench knives. His eyes widened as he saw who his opponent was. "Naruto?" he asked startled as the blond used this to his advantage, he kicked the man in the ribs making him fly in a nearby tree.

"Sensei!" the four ninja's shouted as they heard the crash. Their eyes widened seeing who their sensei's opponent was.

"Naruto?" stammered the pink haired girl as the blond turned towards her, he threw three shuriken towards her. The girl's eyes widened as she took her kunai out of her pouch and deflected the shuriken. She gasped in pain as the blond suddenly appeared before her delivering a powerful blow in her stomach, he did not stop there as he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her in the ground.

He raised his kunai and was about to stab her when he realized he could not move anymore. Looking down, the blond realized that his shadow was connected to that of the pineapple head teen on the team. "That's enough Naruto, what's going on here?" he demanded as the jounin appeared behind the blond with his trench knife at his neck.

"You better have a good reason for attacking your friends boy." He said as the blond's eyes narrowed.

"Friends?" he asked genuinely curios as the pink haired girl groaned and stood up slowly. "I have never met you in my entire life." He said as the girls gasped in shock and the two teen's eyes widened.

"What do you mean Naruto?" shouted the blond haired girl "Sakura was your teammate!" she shouted as the pink haired girl glared at the blond.

Naruto tried to think about what he was told when another wave of pain washed over him, he grit his teeth as he glared at the teens before him. His hands suddenly morphed into his claws forcing the jounin to let him go. They stared at the blond with wide eyes.

The blond turned towards the jounin and charged seeing as he was no longer bound by the Nara, the shock made him lose concentration. Asuma narrowed his eyes as he raised his trench knives and blocked the claws; he gasped for air as the blond spun in mid air and kicked him in the side.

The jounin grit his teeth as he parried the blond's claws and blocked his second attack. He looked at the blond dead in the eyes and attacked once more while enhancing his knives with chakra. Naruto ducked under the attack and spun around the jounin, he was about to stab him in the back with a fist connected with his head and sent him flying in a nearby tree, taking the tree down.

"Baka! What are you doing?" the pink haired girl shouted furiously. "Why are you attacking us? Your friends!" she demanded as the blond groaned and stood up. He shook his head and glared towards the teen, he charged forward with his claws to the side. As he got close he slashed towards the pink haired girl who ducked under the attack, he tried to cut her in half only to have his claws blocked by the jounin.

The blond grinned as he inched closer and head butted the jounin making his take a step back. Once more he tried to stab the jounin, however, he felt the ground shaking. He turned his head to the side and narrowed his eyes; he jumped out of the way just in time as a large boulder passed by in the spot he used to stand.

Naruto eyed the three teens that were sitting in the back, the chubby one's arms became bigger as he raised them above the blond and then lowered them in an attempt to squash him. He was faster however, jumping out of the way he rolled on the ground until he was out of harms way. Jumping back on his feet the blond charged back towards the jounin who was waiting for the blond.

Just as he was about to reach him the blond vanished only to reappear in front of the chubby one, stabbing him with his claws in the chest. The girl screamed in horror as the jounin shouted the boy's name. Naruto grinned as he took his claw out of the ninja's chest and grabbed his head, he felt the hunger return, telling him to devour his target. Tendrils moved out of his arms connecting with the ninja.

His eyes narrowed as he felt a presence next to him, he dropped the injured ninja on the ground and ducked under a powerful punch. He watched as the pressure from the punch shattered a nearby tree and shivered slightly. He wasn't sure if he would be able to withstand something like that, he needed to be careful with that pink bitch.

"The gloves are off Naruto." She growled as she charged forward delivering punches and kicks; in her rage her attacks were sloppy, but dangerous. She had no pattern of attack which made predicting the next move hard and trying to counter it even harder.

The blond ducked and dodged all the attacks until he morphed his right hand back into its normal form and caught the girl's fist. The shockwave created a crater underneath them as the ground shook from the pressure. He grit his teeth in pain, he felt like all the bones in his arm had shattered, but now it proved an opportune moment to strike, she was in shock. The blond twisted her hand and threw her to the ground.

He morphed his left hand back to its normal form and delivered two punches in the stunned girls face; he then grabbed her by the collar and hurled her into the canyon. She crashed in the ground making a large hole. The blond ran towards the edge and jumped down after her morphing his hands and making them stronger. He raised his hands in the air, in one fist.

The kuniochi narrowed her eyes as she jumped out of the way. The blond connected with the ground, a large plum of smoke raised from the ground covering the entire area. Moments later three blond's emerged from the smoke, all of them attacking the pink haired girl. Her eyes widened, for a second she forgot that the blond could make Kage Bushins. She ducked under a clone and grabbed it by the leg; she then slammed it on the ground making it vanish.

She looked towards the second clone as it appeared in front of her; she ducked under its attack and took out her kunai. The blond appeared, his hands morphed into claws once more, he began attacking her with his claws giving her a hard time to react.

"Sakura, jump!" she heard the jounin shout, soon followed by his attack. "**Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning**!" the girl jumped in the air as the black powder suddenly covered the area making the blond stop his attacks, his eyes then widened as he realized what was happening, before he could react the entire cloud caught fire with the blond inside.

Sakura landed next to the jounin, panting. Asuma looked towards the large cloud of fire waiting for the blond to emerge. "Did…we kill him?" the girl asked slowly as the jounin shook his head; he doubted the blond would die from something like that.

True to his thoughts, the blond did not die, his hands suddenly popped from under the water grabbing the girls legs and dragging her under water. She shouted in fright as she was suddenly pulled underwater. "Sakura!" the jounin shouted diving after the girl.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw over fifty blonds dragging the girl deeper under the water. The jounin grabbed the girls arm and threw several shuriken towards the blonds that had a grip on her. He pulled her out of their hands and turned to swim upwards only to feel the blond grab his leg. Asuma cursed as he kicked the clone in the face dispelling it and only to have three more grab hold.

Sakura grabbed her shuriken and sloppily threw them towards the blonds taking down only two. Asuma could see her barely holding, she needed air and she needed it fast. The jounin raised her above his head and moved down towards the clones holding him; he kicked them and cut them with his knives freeing himself. He swam back up, to the waters surface.

As they reached the surface Sakura gasped for air as she started coughing the water she had swallowed. Asuma fell to his knees, panting; he looked up with a scowl as the blond appeared on the waters surface with twenty clones around them.

The blond glared towards the jounin and ordered his clones to attack. However, as the clones tried to move they realized they couldn't. He growled knowing what had happened; he turned his head towards the top of the canyon where the Nara stood in a crouched position and with his hands in a single seal.

"**Shadow Imitation Technique**…completed." The Nara whispered as he nodded towards the jounin. The blond grit his teeth trying to pry himself free from the chunnin's grasp. Asuma slowly stood up and walked towards the original blond, killing any clones that were close to him.

As he got close to the blond he delivered a punch in his stomach making him gasp for air. "Shikamaru, do it." He ordered as the Nara bit his lower lip. "He's an enemy now! Do it!" he shouted as the Nara nodded with resignation. A shadowy hand appeared on the blond's leg, it slowly moved up towards his neck.

"**Shadow Neck Bind." **The chunnin whispered as the hand grabbed the blond by the neck and started squeezing. Naruto gasped as he morphed his hands into claws and started trashing, trying to break himself free. Asuma took a step back as chakra exploded around the blond, he raised his trench knives and moved in for the kill.

The blond's survival instincts kicked in as his eyes snapped open and he let out a chakra enhanced roar making Asuma raise his hands and try to keep balance. He was blown away by the sheer power crashing into the girl that had just managed to stand up. The Nara dropped on the ground as his technique was canceled. He cursed, the blond charged towards their sensei and friend once more.

"Sensei! He's coming!" the chunnin shouted as the jounin jumped back on his feet and parried the blond's attack. He ducked under the second swing and swiped the blond's feet making him fall on the water, he then kicked him in the chest making the blond sink.

He emerged moments later behind the jounin and in front of the girl, before she could react he stabbed her with his claws in the chest, he grabbed her by the head and hurled her in the canyon war. "Sakura!" the jounin shouted as his eyes darkened, he turned towards the blond and stabbed him in the back with one of his knives.

Naruto grit his teeth in pain as he kicked the jounin in the chest, he spun around and slashed with his claws leaving a gash on his chest. Asuma ducked under the second slash and jumped out of the way.

The jounin extended his right hand down, his palm parallel with the ground, his left hand in a half-ram seal. The blond took a step back in shock as a strange, red demonic creature appeared behind the jounin. "**Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder."** Asuma growled out as thousands of fists lashed towards the blond slamming into him and sending him flying in the nearby canyon wall.

The blond groaned as he opened his eyes only to widen them. He raised his hands up to his face as the remaining fists slammed into him and pushed him deeper into the canyon wall. As the last fist hit the jutsu ceased, the blond dropped on the ground gasping for air. The jounin walked towards the blond and grabbed him by the hair, lifting him up to his face.

He brought his knife to the teen's neck. "I'm sorry, but it seems you are no longer on our side." He stated as he slashed his neck and dropped him on the ground.

The blond started gasping for air as black tendrils swirled around him trying to stop the blood from flowing. Naruto looked up at the jounin and extended his hand towards him, the man just scowled as he kicked the blond and stepped on his hand. "This is for Sakura and Chouji." He growled as he kicked the blond into the wall.

He knew he would have to explain why he killed the boy to the Hokage, but no one harmed his students, even if he used to be their friend.

The blond's eyes became hollow as his face connected with the ground. The jounin sighed sadly as he moved to pick up the dead body and take it back to Konoha. To his horror however, the blond's head shot up as he rushed towards him, he grabbed him by the collar and hurled him away and then charged towards the girl that was healing her wounds.

Sakura looked up to see what the commotion was all about but all she could see was darkness. The blond grabbed her head, his claw like hand covering her entire face, the hunger was too much, it took over, he needed to feed or he would die. With a swift motion the blond threw the girl upwards and raised his claw, he then lowered the claw and cut the girl in half making her scream in pain.

"SAKURA!" the blond girl shouted in horror. Before their very eyes tendrils shot out of the blond and connected with her body, the body was then dragged towards the blond, becoming one with him until there was nothing left apart from the blond himself.

Naruto grinned as he felt his strength coming back to him; he turned towards the shocked jounin and was about to attack when he felt his head would explode from the pain that suddenly appeared.

He crashed on the ground on his knees, clutching his head and shouting in pain as images started flashing before his eyes.

"_Hey Sakura-chan!" a boy shouted as the girl turned towards the sound of the voice, a blond boy no older then twelve was running towards her with a grin on his face. "Want to go out?" he asked as the girl scowled._

"_No Naruto, go away." She growled as she turned around and stormed away._

_

* * *

_

"_Naruto!" the girl shouted in fright as the blond stabbed his hand with a kunai. "What are you doing?" she shouted. _

"_I'm taking the poison out." He told her as she hit him on the head and started tending to his wound._

_

* * *

_

"_Naruto?" the girl asked with concern as he stood looking over the casket of the third Hokage. Everyone had left, only he remained, she returned to see what happened. She could see tears dropping on the ground, he was crying, when everyone had left he started crying. _

"_I'll kill him…I'll kill Orochimaru for what he did…" he rasped out. "I'll make him pay for killing jijii…"_

_

* * *

_

"_Naruto…promise me you'll bring Sasuke-kun back…" the girl asked between hiccups and teary eyes. The blond turned towards her and gave her his trademark grin._

"_Don't worry Sakura-chan, I will bring him back, it's a promise of a lifetime!" he shouted as he turned around and left._

_

* * *

_

"_Kakashi-sensei…" the girl asked with a low voice. "…where are they?" she asked as the jounin kept walking down the road with his eyes downcast. "Sensei…" she rasped out as the jounin turned his head slowly towards her, she gasped, his eyes were blank, dead._

"_They're gone…Sakura…" he said with a emotionless voice. "When I got there…there was nothing…no bodies…only a battlefield soaked with blood and discarded weapons…" he said as the girl took a step back in shook and shook her head._

"_No…it's not true…" she said as the jounin looked away and started walking once more._

_

* * *

_

_She stood staring at a picture of her team, the blond and the raven haired boy. She sniffed as she thought that they were both gone, Sasuke with Orochimaru most likely and Naruto…dead. Her eyes began to tear up as she thought about that, the thought that the blond idiot was dead, it crushed her heart. She buried her head in her pillow and started crying while apologizing to the blond knucklehead. _

The blond's head dropped as he was staring at the ground, he raised his claws to his face, his entire body was shaking. "What…what have I done?" he asked himself as he looked towards the battlefield.

"What have I done?" he wailed in despair as he jumped on his feet and then jumped away, vanishing in the forest.

* * *

It took him an entire day to get back to Orochimaru's lair; his mind was in turmoil, everything he knew was false. And to top that, the man that said he was his father was responsible for the death of the third Hokage, who – according to the memories – was like a grandfather to him. He clenched his fists in anger as he looked at the hidden door.

If he could, he would kill Orochimaru straight away, but he couldn't. The man was surrounded by ninja's, cannon fodder. To get to him he would have to kill them all and by the time he reached the sannin he would be too weakened to fight him.

He shook his head clearing the emotions and walked inside, the blond walked through the dark halls wondering where everyone was, it seemed to quiet. He walked in the sannin's chamber only to find it empty. He raised an eyebrow wondering where the snake was.

Naruto continued walking through the hallways, he looked left and right until he heard movement in the infirmary. He stepped inside and saw Kabuto packing his stuff, the man turned towards him and smiled.

"Ah you're back Naruto-kun." He said as the blond nodded emotionlessly.

"Where is everyone?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

"They all left, I'm packing what is left and then we will follow them to the next base." He said as the blond tilted his head to the side wondering why they left. "It seems like someone found this base of operations."

The blond grit his teeth in pain as another wave of memories invaded his mind.

"_Jiraiya found out where Sasuke is held." A busty blond woman said. "Its possible Naruto is there, head out and scout the area, if you do find the blond, try to retrieve him. But don't do anything rash." She ordered._

As the memory ended the blond looked towards Orochimaru's right hand man. "Where are we going?" he asked as the man stopped his work, like he was thinking whether to answer or not.

"Our base near the sea." He said as the blond's eyes widened, he knew that base; all of Orochimaru's experiments went there. "I must say, Orochimaru-sama was a bit displeased you didn't show up when he left." He said "He wanted to hear your report right away…but…no harm done." He finished with a smile as he turned back to his work.

"I see…" the blond replied as his instincts kicked in. He slowly walked towards Kabuto and morphed his hand into a claw. He thrust the claw in the man's chest making him howl in pain, tendrils shot towards Kabuto's body as he was slowly being consumed by the blond.

Moments later, a memory flashed in front of the blond's eyes.

"_Kabuto, we are moving out…it seems like that pesky Jiraiya found about this base." He said as the white haired ninja nodded. _

"_What about Naruto-kun?" he asked as the sannin grinned._

"_I will put him down…he's becoming a risk and too unstable. I will use his body later when I have no more need for the Uchiha." He said with a smirk._

The blond growled as he stood up from the ground. The white haired ninja's memory proved his theory, the sannin wanted him out of the picture and soon. He was afraid of his power and what he was capable of. Naruto looked around the room for anything of interest; he saw several papers and grabbed them.

The door through which he entered the lair closed, but with Kabuto's memories he would know where the exit is now. He could have run instead of coming back here, but he knew that Orochimaru was prepared for that. Grabbing a scalpel the blond turned towards a mirror and moved his head to the side. He cut his neck open and grit his teeth.

"Not now…" the blond whispered as the tendrils appeared to try and heal the cut. He moved the scalpel inside, cutting himself. When he was deep enough he removed the scalpel and moved two fingers in his wound. Moments later he pulled them out; in between the fingers was a strange device. The blond knew that Orochimaru was monitoring him through this, if he didn't remove it the man would have been able to follow him no matter where he went.

He threw it in the sink and watched as the tendrils closed his wound, not even a scar remained. The blond grinned as he turned around and walked out of the infirmary, moments later leaving the underground lair.


	3. Chapter 3

**Subject #31 – Chapter 3: On the run**

"_Where did you go after that?" the white robed man asked, he and the straw hat wearer were on top of a large structure, smoke covered the area around them._

"_I traveled…I tried to find out more about my past, I tried to understand what I was…" the man replied in an emotionless voice._

"_What did you find?" the first one asked curiously as his discussion partner shrugged._

"_Many things…who I used to be, though, only fragments…what consequences my actions brought…" he replied honestly while keeping the same tone in his voice._

"_Reports stated you landed in Sunagakure, about a month after the events that transpired at the Valley of the End." The man said throwing a dossier to the straw wearer who caught it with ease. He looked over the dossier, scanning it until he finally nodded and threw it back to its owner._

"_Its true…I did end up there, but not because I wanted to." He replied_

"_Why did you leave? Wasn't it the safest place to be?" the man asked as his companion shook his head._

"_It was safe for the time being, but who knows how safe it was exactly…" the man replied with an almost sad tone to his voice._

_

* * *

_

Naruto ran through the dense forest, he didn't know where he was heading, he didn't know where he was, all he knew was that he needed to put great distance between him and Orochimaru. He didn't know how long it would take before the man realized that he was gone and that he had killed his right hand man.

The blond stopped on a branch as a Konoha patrol passed in front of him, he was lucky he felt them approach or else they would have spotted him and would have most likely attacked him. The teen looked around, he spotted a small town not far away from his current location, with a little luck he might be able to infiltrate him and find himself a disguise.

Using Kabuto would prove futile, from the man's memories he found out that he was a wanted man by Konoha, seeing his face would only make the Konoha ninja's attack without questioning. Using the … girl's body would also be reckless; if news already reached Konoha about her demise they would capture him to interrogate him as to how "she" was still alive.

As the blond reached the town he looked left and right making sure there were no ninja eyes watching him. Satisfied, the blond walked in the town and looked around for someone he could consume without unwanted attention. He didn't need anyone to see what he was going to do.

His eyes rested on a middle aged man walking down the street, the man took a turn into a alley, probably some sort of shortcut the man uses to get home. The blond followed him into the alley and sped up. As he got closer to the man he thrusted his fist into the man's back and grabbed his mouth, preventing him from screaming. He stepped forward, merging with the man and changing forms.

Instead of a blond teen now stood a man in his early thirties with brown hair and green eyes, he was wearing white shirt with a blue coat over it and matching blue trousers. Memories flashed in front of his eyes once more as he grabbed his head in pain, images of a family, a woman and a child. The blond fell to his knees as he realized who he had consumed and killed, a normal man, struggling to keep his family alive and out of the streets.

He grabbed his chest, the pain was unbearable. Why was he feeling so much pain now? Back then when he killed all those people, he felt nothing, why was he feeling all these emotions all of a sudden? He shook his head as he tried to calm himself down, best leave town before anyone that knew the man spotted him and asked questions.

As the blond walked towards the end of the city he spotted a group of ninja's heading towards him. He scowled on the inside as he tried to maintain his composure on the outside. As he walked past the ninja's he looked towards them with the corner of his eyes and was glad that they didn't stop him to ask him any questions. He kept walking at a normal pace until the ninja's were out of sight, then he sprinted away.

The blond once more ran, this time however, he ran following the road. Wherever the road would take him he would follow it, hoping that he would reach some place safe, preferably somewhere far away from Orochimaru's influence and somewhere outside of Fire Country.

He didn't know who was allied with the Hidden Leaf and he didn't know how far its borders went, all he knew was that the Fire Country was the biggest around the Elemental Nation.

He ran, for hours, for days, he ran without stopping. He ran until he reached the end of the forest. He was shocked at what he was seeing, sand as far as the eye could see. And the forest came to an abrupt halt, the sand started right in front of him. It was…interesting to say at least. He never expected the border between two countries to be like this. Or at least he believed this was the border between Fire and Wind.

Without a moment's hesitation the blond stepped on the sand and into Wind country, he felt a little relieved and allowed a sigh to escape his lips. The teen looked around and scanned the area, there was nothing; he couldn't detect anything at all, he felt safer here, he felt that he could lose any pursuers here.

His body started morphing as the adult vanished and instead of him stood the blond boy, he sighed as another memory flashed in front of his eyes, this time it belong to the girl he had consumed at the Valley of the End. His mind was in complete turmoil, one might say he was becoming unstable with everything that he had learned in such a short time.

The teen slowly walked through the desert, with each step he took he felt like he was actually going nowhere, the vast sand before him made it seem like he wasn't moving at all, yet, when looking behind he could see the trees slowly vanish from his sight. It didn't take long before they completely vanished and all he could see was sand.

The blond raised his hand to his face to block the sun's rays; it was hot, hotter then in Fire country. For a second he wondered why Fire country had that name and it wasn't actually given to Wind country but he shrugged that thought.

He kept walking in the dunes for what seemed like hours, his mind was completely blank at this point. The sun was too much for him, it didn't help that he had no more food supplies and that he was running low on water. The blond stopped as he felt the cold breeze, he looked up and realized that the sun was setting. If he remembered right it would be extremely cold now in the desert.

Shaking his head he continued to walk, hoping that he would find a cave or something to spend the night, or better yet a town. As he was walking the feeling of someone watching him was constantly putting him on the edge. He was sure that there was no one around him for miles, there were no trees, rocks or mountains to hide behind, unless the one – or ones – watching him were hiding under the sand or behind the dunes.

Another strange thing was that he felt like the presence was right next to him, like there was someone walking right beside him the entire time. Ever since he entered the damn country he felt like someone was there, like someone was watching him and following his every step.

Slapping himself once he tried to clear his mind of such thoughts, most likely his imagination was playing tricks on him. As he was walking he tried to categorize the memories of those he had consumed, he had four memories that were trying to assume "dominance", his own memories of the time spent in Orochimaru's lair, Sakura's memories, Kabuto's and that man's memories.

They confused the blond; he was slowly starting to wonder which one was the real one. It was slowly driving him insane and to make matters worse, they were making him dizzy, his head hurt again and the more he tried to block them the more it hurt.

A few hours later the blond allowed a smile to appear on his face as he saw a town in the distance. He hoped however that it wasn't an illusion. He pinched himself and slapped himself several times to make sure, when the town did not disappear he ran straight towards it. As he got close a man with a robe and plate armor over his chest appeared before him, he was holding a pike in his hand.

"Halt!" he stated as he raised his free hand in front of the blond. "State your business in our town."

"Shelter for the night." The blond said as he shivered once more. The man studied him for several seconds.

"Very well, please know that if you cause any disruption in our town we will kick you out and alert the local shinobi." The man said as the blond nodded.

"Where is the tavern?" he asked as the man turned around.

"Keep following the road, once you reach a fountain turn to your left, the tavern is right there. Look for the sign "Desert Rose"." He said as the blond nodded and thanked the man.

* * *

Naruto was lying on a bed inside the tavern and looking at the ceiling. He was sorting through the memories of those he had consumed, so far he managed to place the civilians' memories away and even erase some of them, he planed to completely erase them from his mind, the last thing he needed was a guilt trip for killing an innocent man that had a hungry family waiting for him.

Kabuto's and Sakura's memories however were harder to categorize, instead of sleeping he was viewing them, he had started with Kabuto's; after all, the man had been Orochimaru's right hand. Maybe he would find out what really happened to him, what the snake had actually done to his mind and to his body. From what he had seen, even Kabuto had met him before and he didn't posses these powers back then.

Another thing that he had managed to clear was where his loyalty used to belong. From both the girl's and the teen's memories he deducted that he had been a loyal ninja of Konoha, at least until he appeared on Orochimaru's doorstep. That still puzzled him; he didn't know how he appeared in the man's lair. But he didn't ponder on that too much.

He could learn a lot by looking through Kabuto's memories; the teen had a vast knowledge on healing techniques and knew quite a lot of secrets. He was surprised that he had been a double agent and what he learned about Akatsuki.

The blond sat up and lifted his shirt; he moved his hand over his stomach as he tried to find the supposed seal. It seemed like he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, but if that was true then why hadn't the demon contacted him by now? Or why didn't he meet it? The blond channeled a small amount of chakra, a seal appeared on his stomach but it looked strange. There was a cut in the middle of it and more then half of it was erased from what it seemed.

With a sigh, the blond lowered his shirt and lay down on the bed once more. He decided to look through the girl's memories for a bit and flinched a little for two reasons. It seemed like he wasn't in the best of terms with her when he was still in Konoha, he saw himself getting hit by her for strange reasons and he still followed her blindly, it made him wonder. Then he realized that despite all that she cared about him, like a brother, an annoying brother but a brother nonetheless.

That made him feel horrible, thinking that he had killed and consumed a family member. He brought his hand to his face, covering it. He blocked the memory and tried to suppress the strange feeling that was washing over him.

The blond's eyes suddenly widened as he jumped up and morphed his hand into a claw, he thrust his hand forward, his claw striking a wall of sand. The sand suddenly moved around the blond grabbing his hands and bringing them behind him. He gasped in pain as he fell on the ground.

"Is that any way to greet me?" the blond heard someone ask, judging by the voice the person couldn't be older then he was. Looking up his eyes made contact with a teen wearing Kage robes and a gourd strapped to his back. His hands were crossed over his chest as he glared down at the blond.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" the teen said as the sand's grip tightened around the blond's arms making his flinch from the pain. No matter how hard he struggled he couldn't pry his arms free, he couldn't retaliate in any way. "…wanted for murdering Haruno Sakura, former teammate and apprentice of the Godaime Hokage." The teen said once more as the blond stopped struggling.

"I will ask you this…" the teen said once more taking a long pause. "…why?"

Naruto looked up at the teen, confusion was etched in his eyes, why did this person want to know about that? Why did he want to know the reason for killing the girl? He looked down at the ground trying to remember why he had killed her, what drove her to consume her. He mumbled something, the sand moved around his face and formed a hand that lifted his head up so he would face the young Kage.

"Repeat." He ordered as the blond closed his eyes and sighed.

"I don't know…" he replied opening his eyes. Suddenly the blond felt the grip on his arms loosen and saw the sand recede in the gourd.

"Don't try running, I have ninja station all around town, ready to take you out if you even think of anything." The young Kage said as the blond looked down and nodded knowing that there was no way he could fight his way out of this. If this person was able to appear out of thin air and immobilize him before he even realized what was happening there was no telling what else he could do.

"What do you want of me?" Naruto asked as the teen turned around and walked towards the door, opening it.

"Come with me." He ordered as the blond stood up and followed the young Kage without saying a word.

The two walked out of the tavern and down the street in silence, as the exited the town the blond made no attempt to escape, he was however scanning the area around him trying to spot the ninja's. It irritated him that he couldn't see where they were.

"I lied…" the teen said as the blond turned and narrowed his eyes. "…I had no ninja's with me." He said as Naruto's muscles tensed. "But…don't think you can run…I alone can hold you down and drag you where I want to." He said coldly as the blond sighed knowing that he was speaking the truth. He had no choice but to follow the teen and hope that he wasn't being taken to Orochimaru's or Konoha's clutches.

While they were walking the girl's memories suddenly flashed through his eyes. He stopped walking as he clutched his head in pain and dropped on his knees.

"_Sakura, you remember Gaara right?" a busty woman asked as a teen in Kage robes appeared beside her, the girl involuntarily shivered as the teen raised an eyebrow. He then bowed towards the girl._

"_I apologize for what transpired in the past, I assure you I am no longer like that." He stated as the girl gave a weak smile and nodded. _

"_I'm surprised you're the Kazekage now Gaara-sama." She said respectfully as the teen shrugged. He then turned towards the busty woman and his face turned serious. _

"_I'd like to know where my friend is." He said, or more like demanded. The woman looked down at the ground sadly._

"_I assume you already know some of it." She said as the teen nodded and narrowed his eyes. "We are doing our best to find him, but…as it stands, we have no leads whatsoever."_

"_Tch…" the teen didn't seem pleased at all as he turned around and started walking out of the office. "…remember that I'm doing this out of respect for Uzumaki Naruto, if he turns up dead…" he left the office, leaving the two to figure out what he might do if the blond boy would be brought back dead. _

Naruto gasped for air as he looked down at the sand; shakily he looked up at the young Kage who was studying him curiously. This…Gaara was one of his friends, or so the girl's memory said. He didn't know what to believe, if he was his friend then why did he attack him? Why did he sneak up on him?

He saw the teen turn around and leave, he looked towards the blond with narrowed eyes letting him know that if he tried to turn and run he wouldn't get far. Naruto lowered his head as he stood up following Gaara, wondering where they were going.

* * *

At the break of dawn they arrived at the entrance to Sunagakure. The blond gulped slightly and tensed, preparing for whatever the young Kage was planning. As they passed the gates and walked through the village the blond was surprised that the ninja's took no hostile action nor did they react in any way when they saw him. It was like they didn't even know who he was or what he had done.

"I have not released the updated bingo book here yet…" Gaara said emotionlessly as the blond looked towards him with wide eyes.

"Then…why did you bring me here?" he asked as the teen turned towards him.

"To talk." He replied as he turned around and started walking away once more.

Naruto frowned but said nothing otherwise; he continued to follow the Kage until they reached the Tower and entered the office. The secretary bowed respectfully towards the Kazekage and nodded towards the blond like he was some sort of guest of their Kage.

The teen took his seat behind the desk and raised his hand making several motions with it. "Leave us." He ordered as the five ANBU hidden in the room appeared before the blond before vanishing in a plum of smoke. Gaara motioned to a seat in front of the desk and the blond understood what he wanted. He walked over and sat down placing his hands on his legs and waited.

They stood staring at each other for several minutes before Gaara decided to speak. "What happened to you?" he asked as the blond stood silent "You've been missing for three years, then you suddenly appear, kill off your former teammate…" the blond flinched as a memory flashed before his eyes "…and then run from the scene."

"I…" the blond started, he tried to find the right words.

"_Naruto is my first friend, he was the one that took me out of the darkness and showed me the light…" Gaara said towards the pink haired girl as he stood by the gates of Konoha. "…I will never forget that, for that I owe him my life, I too will try my best to find him and help him… he is, after all, my friend."_

Naruto looked down at the ground as the memory flashed before his eyes, he looked up at the Kazekage. "Are you…my friend?" he asked as the teen raised an eyebrow at the question. He nodded slowly as the blond bit his lower lip and looked down.

"I…don't remember anything…" he said "All I remember is waking up on a surgery table and Orochimaru telling me I am his … ninja." Naruto said slowly as he found the ground very interesting all of a sudden. He stood waiting for the young Kage to say something, but silence was all that greeted him. He looked up and saw that Gaara was still looking at him, his hands under his chin, he wanted more then just that.

"I trained under him, I did missions for him, I killed for him and then…I killed…Sakura…" he said uncertainly before shaking his head vigorously. "No…I didn't kill her…I did much worse…I erased her from existence." He stated as Gaara raised another eyebrow.

"Explain." He demanded as the blond raised his hands and looked at them.

"I … I felt … I don't know what I felt … I can't explain it." The blond said clutching his head and shaking. "The hunger…it wanted me to devour, it told me to devour, I couldn't control it! I devoured her!" he shouted, his whole body was trembling as he was sweating.

*Slap*

The sound echoed throughout the room as the blond looked in shock at the Kazekage who was standing right in front of him, his left hand raised and an angry look plastered on his face.

"Get a grip of yourself Uzumaki!" the teen shouted as the blond flinched, images of Orochimaru flashed before his eyes, of what the man did when he was unconscious. He didn't know how he remembered this, maybe Kabuto had been there and assisted to one of the moments.

"Have you forgotten who you are?" the Kazekage demanded as he grabbed the blond by the collar and raised him to stare in his eyes. "You are Uzumaki Naruto! My friend! The one who taught me about friendship! The one that risked everything to help me despite the fact that I had tried to kill his friends and destroy his village!" The blond's eyes widened at the declaration, images appeared before his eyes once more.

He saw the young Kage, only much younger now, he saw himself fighting him, helping him control the demon sealed inside of him. The talk they had before his sister and brother appeared and took him away. The blond bit his lip as the tried to keep his composure. As Gaara released him the blond fell on the ground, his head down, he was shaking violently.

Looking at the broken form of his friend the young Kazekage remembered his past, he remembered the twelve year old blond who stubbornly fought the Ichibi not only to save his friends, his village but Gaara as well. Slowly, he placed his hand on the blond's shoulder and stayed like that, waiting for the blond to calm down.

"I'm sorry…" the blond rasped out, tears dropping on the floor. "…I only did what I was told, I didn't know who she was…he took my memories away…" he said as the young Kazekage knew what the blond was talking about. "…I really believed what he said, I really believed that they were my enemies…if I had known, I wouldn't have done it." He said as Gaara smiled and patted the blond on the shoulder. He stood up and walked back to his chair and sat down.

A few minutes later the blond stood up as well. "Naruto…know that I hold no grudge for your actions…I have not known Haruno that much to…be pained by her death, I have known you enough however to know that you are my first true friend." The blond looked up at him with a weak smile.

"I will not hand you over to Konoha, for all they know you have never stepped foot in this village, we never had this talk and we never met in the first place." The blond understood what the Kazekage was saying and smiled "However, I can give you a place to stay, if you want to seek refuge know that I will allow you to hide here."

Naruto was shocked at what the Kazekage was saying, he smiled a little as he wiped his eyes. "Thank you." He said with a low voice "But I can't…" he told the teen and looked up at him, he could see the puzzled look on the teen's face. Without a warning the blond morphed his hands into claws and raised them up to his face.

"I'm….no longer myself…" he said solemnly, he moved his hands and closed his fists before opening them. The Kazekage watched with interest at what the blond was doing, he was fascinated by the power he now had, but he knew now at what price they came. "…Orochimaru is probably looking for me right now…Konoha is out for my head…I would only make things worse if I stay here." He said bowing slightly and morphing his claws back into his hands.

"I see…" Gaara said before leaning in his chair. "…one more thing, I cannot feel your tenant anymore, though I can still feel its power…" he said as the blond tilted his head to the side in confusion. "...meditate, go in your mindscape and try to find the Kyuubi…that is, if he is still there…" he said as the blond nodded, making a mental note to do this later. If Kyuubi was there it might help him control his powers, especially his hunger.

"If there is anything you need, let me know before you leave." Gaara said as the blond smiled and nodded.

"There are a few things if you don't mind." He said as the young Kazekage smiled slightly.

* * *

By nightfall the blond had left the village with only Gaara to see him off. He had asked the Kazekage for detailed maps of the Elemental Countries and some money. The Kazekage offered a generous sum of money, enough for the blond to survive for at least six months.

With the maps the blond decided to head towards Water country, the Kazekage warned him not to step into Amegakure, the blond didn't ask why as he trusted the teen's words. By the end of the day he had no doubts regarding Gaara, he knew that the Kazekage was on his side no matter what, or at least until he killed his ninja. Thought Gaara said he will make sure that no Suna ninja would ever attack him.

Looking over the map of Wind country the blond decided to head towards a nearby port town and take a boat to Tea Country, there he would head towards another port town and use another board to reach Water country. Gaara had asked the blond why he decided to head towards Water country, the blond felt like it was the only safe place. He wasn't sure what would happen if he stepped in Earth Country, from the girl's memories it seemed like the ninja there resented Konoha ninja of all form, active or missing-nin.

Bird country, while small, seemed like an ideal place to hide at first, but then again, he didn't know for sure how safe it was, if Konoha ninja's would eventually find him there. To reach Kusa or Taki he would have to pass through Ame, Earth or Fire country and all three were out of the question, so that left only Lighting, Tea, Water and the surrounding islands around Water country. He picked Water country since it was most likely one of the last places they would look for him and even if they did step in that country to look for him there were a lot of places for him to go and hide.

He smirked as he shifted into the brown haired man and continued walking at civilian pace through the desert. Looking back he could see Sunagakure slowly vanishing in the distance, he could still feel the Kage's presence, like he was next to him. The blond smiled softly as he looked in front of him.

Naruto blinked for a second as he saw a strange man waking towards him. He was tall with extremely long and spiky white hair tied into a pony tail; red lines ran from his eyes, he was wearing a green short shirt kimono and matching colored pants. Then he noticed his forehead protector, which was strange, the kanji for 'Oil' was printed on it.

"Excuse me…" the man said as the blond blinked "…you were staring…" he said raising an eyebrow as the blond blinked several more times before he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I thought I recognized you from somewhere." The blond apologized with a slight bow as he walked past the man. Said man turned to look at his retreating figure and scratched his chin in deep thought, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Must have read one of my books." He said after a long pause with a silly grin on his face, he shook his head and turned around continuing his trip to Sunagakure hoping to find some information on Uzumaki Naruto from the Kazekage.


End file.
